Classroom management strategies Peter Lucantoni

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Classroom management strategiesPeter Lucantoni
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Peter Lucantoni

• Started teaching in 1979 in UK, MA TESOL
  University of Edinburgh, lived and worked in
  Europe and Middle East, now based in Cyprus
• Author, Educational Consultant Teacher Trainer
  for Cambridge University Press
• Cambridge TKT, CELTYL, CELTA DELTA trainer and
  Cambridge CELTYL assessor
• Examiner for Cambridge ESOL speaking examinations

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Workshop aims

• To establish a classroom definition for classroom
  management
• To establish what factors are involved in
  managing learners positively
• To brainstorm practical techniques for managing
  learners positively
• To consider the stages required in successfully
  setting up tasks and activities

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What does managing mean?

• people controlling and organising different
  situations that happen in their lives or their
  work

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Definition

• What is classroom management? Work with your
  colleagues and produce a definition.
• Use these words for help
• techniques / ensures / behave /allows /
• lesson / smoothly / learning

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Definition

• Classroom management is a set of techniques
  which ensures that the learners behave in a way
  which allows the lesson to run smoothly and for
  learning to take place.

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Discipline
Learners, Activities L2
Time Ourselves
Space Dynamics
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Factors

• There are various factors involved in managing
  learners those which you can control or
  improve, and those which you cant
• Complete the table

Can control Cant control
Classroom layout Learners natural abilities
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Can control Cant control
Classroom layout Learners natural abilities
Lesson content Motivation Classroom
rules Involving learners in decisions Fairness Mut
ual respect Group dynamics
Previous experience Classroom size,
furniture Outside noise Home environment Imposed
coursebook Length of lesson
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Setting up

• What are the stages in setting up tasks and
  activities?
• For example, you could start with
• Prepare the language you are going to use to set
  up the task, before going to class
• Think of 5-6 stages for teachers to consider

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Setting up

• Look at Handout 1 with the suggested stages,
  which have been mixed up
• Put them into a logical order. There is more than
  one possible answer

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
G H I A D F C B E
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Setting up groups

• Classroom groups move through various stages
  (Tuckmen Jensen, 1977). What do you think each
  stage involves?
• Forming
• Storming
• Norming
• Performing
• In 1987, Tuckmen added a fifth and final stage
  what do you think he called it?

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1. Conflict minor arguments may arise
2. Completion moving on
3. Socialising not much actually gets done
4. Cohesion listening to each other
5. Task-orientation getting the job done

Adjourning
Performing
Norming
Storming
Forming
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Managing space and dynamics

• Most authentic communication requires the
  teacher to adapt classroom space. Vale
  Feunteun, 1996
• Newer approaches to teaching offer us
  different possibilities of classroom dynamics
  which make class activities much more
  communicative and efficient. House, 1997

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Managing space and dynamics

• Where students sit can determine many things. Try
  to think of three aspects of classroom management
  which could be affected by where students sit
• their attitude to each other
• their attitude to you
• your attitude to them
• how they interact with each other
• how they interact with you
• the types of activity they can do

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Why is group work important?

• Communicative language teaching (CLT) encourages
  the use of pair and group work activities in the
  classroom.
• Why?

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Why is group work important?

• Interaction is the means and the goal
• Learning is task-based
• Communication of message is more important than
  exact grammar
• Authentic materials are used
• Multi-answers are possible
• Mistakes are part of learning

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What are the problems with group work?

• Students only speak in Arabic
• Students make too much noise
• Students get bored
• Some students finish early
• ...
• For each difficulty, think of possible solutions

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1. Students only speak in Arabic

• Give learners the language they need
• Close monitoring
• Provide feedback
• Give incentives
• Assign English monitors

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2. Students make too much noise

• Consider productive vs. disruptive noise
• Use quiet signal to maintain control
• Set clear guidelines about noise levels
• Assign English monitors

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3. Students get bored

• Know your learners and what interests them (not
  you!) and motivates them (not you!)
• Match tasks to learners levels
• Give each student a role/job in the group
• Do follow-up feedback, reports

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4. Some students finish early

• Prepare back-up activities for early finishers
• Use stronger students as teaching assistants
  (learn by teaching)
• Give feedback and encourage students to start
  extension activities

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Management tips

• Ask yourself How can I help my students to
  learn?
• Give handouts, use visuals, realia, etc
• Insert pauses into the lesson for students to
  catch up with regular changes of pace /
  activity / skill
• Use students as teaching assistants

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Management tips

• Encourage students to prepare questions and
  quizzes in groups of 2-3
• Get other students to answer these questions and
  encourage competition
• Use Dictogloss, Jigsaw Texts, Moving Dictation

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Any questions?
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• peter_at_cup-training.org